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1 the Dynamics of Relations Between Germans and Afrikaners Against the Background of Constructing a Colonial State in Namibia, 1884-1990 Christo Botha

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1 the Dynamics of Relations Between Germans and Afrikaners Against the Background of Constructing a Colonial State in Namibia, 1884-1990 Christo Botha Journal of Namibian Studies, 2 (2007): 7–50 ISSN: 1863-5954 Internal colonisation and an oppressed minority?1 The dynamics of relations between Germans and Afrikaners against the background of constructing a colonial state in Namibia, 1884-1990 Christo Botha Abstract The paper aims to demonstrate how the colonial state, ostensibly engaged in a project designed to promote ‘civilisation’ and ‘development’, often struggled to contain serious disagreements about the nature of the colonial project among members of the white settler community. The 19th century is touched upon to demonstrate a state of affairs sharply at odds with recollections about the period by Europeans. The focus on the German colonial period (1884-1915) points to certain advances and innovations that the South African Administration, it is claimed, either ignored or terminated. The first phase of South African rule, 1920-1950, is a record of ideological conflicts in intra- and intergroup contexts. The post-1950 period demonstrates how South Africa constructed a form of colonial domination that amounted to establishing Afrikaner hegemony over the public sector in particular. From a German point of view, this amounted to a case of de facto internal colonisation. Introduction Studies about the colonial period in Namibia produced before the 1980s, by and large, celebrated European advances and the transformation of perceived backward polities, characterised by inter-ethnic strife and instability, towards modernisation. Except for a few observers who touched on the illiberal aspects of colonial rule, works of non-fiction were premised on the discourse of modernisation and the challenges facing representatives of ‘advanced’ cultures imparting ‘civilised’ values and beliefs.2 Most of 1 The late Namibian historian and fierce critic of South African colonialism, Brigitte Lau once remarked that while the German community in Namibia are constantly reminded of their complicity in the infamous wars of extermination conducted against the Herero and Nama people from 1904-1908, the surface of South Africa’s colonial record has been barely scratched. She commented that the German community comprised “an oppressed minority” in the face of South African colonial hegemony. (Personal communication, January 1996). 2 Cf. Horst Drechsler, Let us die fighting , London, Zed, 1980 & Helmut Bley, South-West Africa under German Rule, 1894-1914, Evanston, Illinois, 1971, on the German period, and Ruth First, South West Africa, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1963, on South Africa’s violation of the mandate. In the 1980s several studies critical of South African rule were published. Some contained critical analyses of South African Copyright © 2007 Otjivanda Presse.Essen Eckl & Hartmann GbR the Eurocentric studies on Namibia suffer from what Stuart Schwarz, in another context, called an inability to “steer clear from either a deconstructionist or empiricist discourse”.3 In the studies on Namibia referred to above, it is the latter defect that stands out. These studies operated within a paradigm that reflected the essentially benign intent of colonialism. Mindful of the fact that much still needs to be done to deconstruct various aspects of colonial rule and policy, this paper has a more limited aim, namely, to unravel the perception of an essential harmony underlying the colonial project, especially as far as members of the white settler community were concerned. For all the retrospective celebration of ‘European achievements’ and cooperation between sections of the white community, discontent always seemed to simmer just below the surface of public discourse. Colonial rule, especially during the period of National Party rule after 1950, was primarily concerned with constructing a façade of white unity, built on oppression and privilege alike. A retrospective assessment, though, suggests that it failed to establish more than a superficial entente among whites. The central argument of this paper is that political power was always contested in the white community, if not always openly, then in subversive ways. More pertinently, an analysis of beliefs, attitudes and perceptions harboured by both German- and Afrikaans- speakers, will, it is hoped, throw new light on issues and key political, social and economic events and developments in the colonial period. A drawback in such a venture is the paucity of sources. However, an attempt was made to utilise secondary and primary sources in such a way that inferences can be made and certain trends indicated, rather than to reach definitive conclusions. By way of example, it is generally considered that Germans happily embraced Afrikaner political domination and apartheid policies after 1950, yet the ambiguity which their political support engendered, hardly touched upon in existing published sources, can only be teased out by combining pointers in written sources with oral evidence.4 This paper will therefore point towards neglected or lesser-known issues and developments that influenced relations between Germans and Afrikaners. policies, notably Reginald H Green, “Namibia background notes”, IDAF Research and Information Department, no date, c. 1979/1980, Andre du Pisani, SWA/Namibia. The politics of continuity and change, Johannesburg, Ball, 1986 and Wolfgang H. Thomas, Economic development in Namibia: towards acceptable development strategies for independent Namibia, München, Kaiser, 1978, while others were written from an African nationalist perspective. Cf. Peter Katjavivi, The rise of Nationalism in Namibia and its international dimensions, PhD thesis, Oxford University, 1992; Tony Emmet, Popular Resistance and the Roots of Nationalism in Namibia, 1915-1966, Basel, Schlettwein, 1999 and Alfred Moleah, Namibia: the Struggle for Liberation, Wilmington, Del, 1983. 3 Stuart Schwarz, (ed.), Implicit understandings, observing, reporting and reflecting on the encounters between Europeans and other peoples in the early modern era, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1994: 6. 4 Sources for Namibian history are notoriously incomplete, especially for the period between 1955 and 1975. This often necessitates recourse to sources lacking systematic research and investigation into issues pertaining to the white community, such as accounts by foreign academics or travellers. Oral evidence was also obtained from a few seasoned observers of the local socio-political scene. 8 Inter-cultural contacts among equals: Africans and Europeans in the period of merchant capitalism and emergent Christianity in the pre- 1884 era Recent research presents a far more nuanced picture of the pre-colonial era of present- day Namibia than older historical works, which by and large stressed European agency (traders, hunters & missionaries) and internecine African warfare as seemingly permanent features of the history of 19th century Namibia.5 The view that Europeans, Germans in particular, somehow saved the warring African polities from themselves has been significantly adjusted.6 The introduction of merchant capital early in the 1800s by Afrikaner Oorlams from the Cape Colony and foreign traders, introduced a new structural dynamic that eventually fundamentally transformed the nature of pre-capitalist social formations in southern and central south western Africa. It was also instrumental in the transmission of economic and military power from the Nama-Oorlams of southern Namibia to the stock-possessing Herero people after 1860. In recent studies African agency is vividly displayed, particularly in the way it demonstrates the acuity that informed local strategies aiming to achieve economic, political and social reconstruction and attempts at political hegemony.7 Europeans appear no longer as the heroic forebears of ‘civilisation’, but as rather insecure agents of foreign cultural, political and economic centres, very much dependent on constructing and maintaining relationships of trust and cooperation with African leaders on a basis of equality.8 European traders in the pre-1880 period, mostly of Swedish and British extraction, often attached themselves to the settlements of leading members of the Herero elite, establishing pacts of mutual benefit for both parties. Many engaged in sexual relations with local women and sometimes even had the children born from such unions educated by missionaries. The latter, often more aloof 5 Dag Henrichsen, Herrschaft und Identifikation im vorkolonialen Zentralnamibia. Das Herero- und Damaraland im 19. Jahrhundert, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Hamburg, 1997; Tilman Dedering, Hate the old and follow the new, Khoekhoe and Missionaries in early nineteenth-century Namibia, Stuttgart, Steiner, 1997; Wolfram Hartmann, Sexual encounters and their implications on an open and closing frontier: Central Namibia from the 1840s to 1905, PhD, Columbia University, 2002; Brigitte Lau, Namibia in Jonker Afrikaner’s time, Windhoek, National Archives of Namibia, 1987. 6 Brigitte Lau subjected the doyen of Namibian historiography, Heinrich Vedder to scathing criticism, because Vedder depicted Namibian history in the 19th century as characterised by a series of endless conflicts, which, she argued, served to justify the establishment of German rule. Cf. Brigitte Lau, “Thank God the Germans came. Vedder and Namibian historiography”, in: History and historiography, 4 essays in reprint, Windhoek, Discourse/MSORP, 1995: 1-16. 7 Cf. Henrichsen, Herrschaft & Lau, Namibia . 8 Dag Henrichsen has convincingly disproved Brigitte Lau’s thesis according to which the conflicts
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